Turn Mac screen sharing on or off

You can use screen sharing to access your Mac while you’re away, solve a problem on someone else’s Mac, or collaborate with others on a project such as a website or presentation.

When screen sharing is enabled on your Mac, your Mac desktop can be viewed from another Mac on your network. While your screen is being shared, the user of the other Mac sees what’s on your screen and can open, move, and close files and windows, open apps, and even restart your Mac.

If you selected “Only these users,” click the Add button at the bottom of the users list, then do one of the following:

Select a user from Users & Groups, which includes all the users of your Mac except sharing-only users and guest users.

Select a user from Network Users or Network Groups, which includes users and groups with network server accounts. Network users and members of network groups can use their network name and password to connect to your Mac for screen sharing.

To set additional options for screen sharing, click Computer Settings, then select one or both of the following:

Anyone may request permission to control screen: Before other computer users begin sharing the screen of your Mac, they can ask for permission instead of entering a user name and password.

VNC viewers may control screen with password: Other users can share your screen using a VNC viewer app—on iPad or a Windows PC, for example—by entering the password you specify here. If you select this option, you should create a very secure password.

Turn off screen sharing on your Mac

For additional remote management capabilities, such as installing and configuring apps, helping remote users, and creating detailed reports, you can purchase Apple Remote Desktop from the App Store. Apple Remote Desktop is used to remotely manage Mac computers in a commercial or business environment.